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Lady Jenna (NEW IG/AM!)vs. BEASTSTAR in "The New Recruits" (1500, 4/24)

Started by BigToof, April 25, 2014, 03:43:09 AM

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BigToof

Lady Jenna (NEW IG/AM!)vs. BEASTSTAR in "The New Recruits" (1500)

Hi All,
Yes, it's that time again!  New Codex, new builds and wow, does IG (err... AM rather) have some new toys.
Not so much in the way of new units, but a lot of force multipliers and tricks.
My Lady Jenna list has to change up quite a bit as Primaris Psykers can't be the Warlord anymore (aww...), but now they can be level 2 psykers with divination!  Needless to say, there's some new faces here, and a few old ones (nostalgic at least for me).
Below is my first new game after thinking of a lot of builds, and it was against a fairly scary BEASTSTAR that my mate was thinking about for a tourney.  Hence the somewhat spammy nature (if you can call it that).
All I have to say is that the new IG are POWERFUL and will shake up the meta.
Oh, and there's fluff as well :)

Enjoy!

Best,
-BT

P.S.  Comments and Critiques are greatly appreciated!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------
The Lists
---------------------

Lady Jenna's Marauders (1500): 64 Infantry, 5 Vehicles; 14 VPs
Seneschal Jack Hawkins (CCS w/Bolt Pistol, Snipersx2, MoO) in Chimera
Lady Jenna Mordheim (PPsyker w/Force Staff, Mastery 2)
Natalia Maximov (Primaris Psyker w/Force Staff, Mastery 1)
Munistorm Priest
Baron von Oberheim (Tempestus Command Squad w/Meltagunsx4)
Tempestus Scions w/Meltagunsx2
Captain Alyssa Jax (PCS w/Flamersx3, Heavy Flamer)
Guardsmenx30 w/Lascannonsx3, Sgts w/Power Axesx3
Lady Tomoe Saigo (Veterans w/Plasmagunsx3, Carapace Armor in Chimera)
Vendetta
Lemun Russ Punisher w/Heavy Boltersx3
Lemun Russ Vanquisher w/Multi-Melta Sposons, Lascannon

BEASTSTAR (1500pts): 46 Infantry, 3 Vehicles, 1 MC; 11 VPs
-Farseer Talissa w/Jetbike
-Farseer Illandara w/Jetbike
-"Count" Khaos (Baron Sathonyx)
-Dire Avengersx5 in Wave Serpent w/TL-SLasers, Holofield
-Dire Avengersx5 in Wave Serpent w/TL-SLasers, Holofield
-Guardian Jetbikesx3
-Warriorsx5 in Venom w/SCx2
-BEASTSTAR (Beastmastersx5, Khymaraex25 (!!))
-Wraithknight

---------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------
Chapter Nine: The New Recruits
----------------------------

By the Throne, Natalia Maximov, you certainly do know how to step in it.

The words came mostly unbidden to the young girl wandering around the crowded walkways of Outpost Hellgramm IV.  Red-haired and slight of form, she was drawing some eyes, not for an overabundance of looks, but rather an eerie feeling that something about her was wrong.  An orbital station far off of the normal trade routes, Helgramm was still the only Imperial presence for light-years in any direction.  Which is why her assigned unit, the mostly crazed, but still effective Catachan 34th was using it for reoutfitting.  Natalia had heard that there might be something resembling a Vostroyan restaurant aboard and sort of snuck out without telling anyone.  Granted, it was probably thirty kinds of head-blamming levels of treason, but the birchrot tea was so good she didn't even care.  That was, until she got back in time to find out that the regiment had re-mustered for some kind of new assignment and had left without her.  And she couldn't really blame them as they probably didn't know that she had left. 

Now, she thought, scanning the walls in a way that hopefully didn't make her look like a tourist, there weren't that many options available.  She could turn herself over to the local PDF and hope that the right message got sent to the right people at the Adminstratum and that someone cared enough to actually think of her circumstances instead of just putting a bullet through her skull for being a "rogue Psyker."  Her stomache growled and she checked the last few coins in her purse.  Sadly enough, they hadn't  multiplied on their own.  She wasn't expecting things to cost as much as they did, and now she could maybe afford some kind of barely edible goulash the locals were spooning out.  It wasn't so long ago she was the daughter of a fairly well-off noble and was looking forward to considering partners for the upcoming ball.  Then, there were the headaches and the strange dreams.  Even her parents' money couldn't buy enough secrecy and the Black Ships came.  One meeting later with a LIVING GOD, and here she was. 

The Catachans had treated her alright, but there was always that feeling that she was an outsider.  Which was true enough, she supposed.  Being a Psyker put you in a different kind of species altogether, one with more or less advertised chances of going insane and/or exploding into nightmares made flesh.  It almost put the chances of her getting knifed in an alleyway seem kind of trivial.  She could probably vaporize a single assailant into ash, but from what she had seen out of the corner of her eye, the local predators never worked alone.  Plus, any flashy powers would bring the wrong sort of questions.  She needed to do something.  Anything.  But what?

"All able-bodied men and women to apply!  No questions asked!  Good pay, good life!  Recruiting now!"

Natilia turned toward the booming voice and saw a rather dapper looking man handing out fliers to passerby.  Or rather, trying, as most were left on the ground.  She was about to turn back, but something about the offer sounded appealing.  No questions asked, good pay, and the possibility of an easy life.  She had survived the Catachans.  How bad could this be?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Certainly smaller than what I was expecting, Natalia thought as she waited in line at the dock.  The small ship wasn't that much bigger than one of the Imperial transport craft.  Something in the light cruiser category?  She shook her head.  As if she knew anything about starships. 

Looking around at the people in line, she felt that something was off.  There were maybe a dozen or so, and they certainly weren't the best of the bunch.  But, given the advert and and the relative number of vagrants, you would think that more would be applying.  She was just chewing through another batch of second thoughts when it was her turn at the front.  A man was seated at a small desk, trying to keep the chaotic piles of paper from overwhelming him.  He wore rather simple clothing, and although in decent shape, he wasn't really exceptional, with short brown hair and brown eyes that were rather over-brimming with fatigue and a chin sporting a fair amount of stubble.  Maybe a clerk of some sort.
Not even looking up, he flipped open a new sheet of paper, and said with a sigh, "Name?"

"Natalia M...  Natalia."

He paused, and said with a sigh, "No family name?"

Biting her lip, she asked, "Do I have to give one?"

Tapping the desk in irritation he answered back, "Not if you don't want to give one."

"Oh... then... no."

Continuing to scribble on the pages, he put a small stack of papers in front of him and said, "Contract.  Read it.  Captain will be down to see you all shortly.  Move along.  Next!"

Picking up the papers, Natalia tried to read the script as best she could as she scampered over to where the others were gathering.  It was a bit heavy on the words, but from what she could see, it was decent pay and a surprising amount of detail on duties and what-not.  Nothing really surprising per se, but...

Something slammed into her face and she lost her balance, falling to the ground while papers went every which way.  She looked up to see a stern, severe looking man with a shaven head, monocle and a perfectly pressed uniform.  Dazed for a moment, it took her a bit to realize that she had just walked full-tilt into him.  And he didn't even bother to stop her.  Hopefully he wasn't the Captain.

"You ignorant oaf!" barked the man.  "Look at the mess you've made.  Clean it up now before you shame us all."

Nodding more to herself than anyone else, Natalia scrambled to pick up all the pages, but sadly, more than a few were lost to stray gusts of wind.  Great, she thought to herself, Just great.

The small crowd of people shuffled slightly to the side to let her pass, and she managed to fumble most of the pages together into a more-or-less intact pile.  She was going to attempt to find her place when the hatch to the ship opened and out stepped an elegant looking woman.  Natalia felt her jaw drop when she looked at her.  It wasn't just that she was wearing a dress more expensive and regal than any she had seen at court, nor the beauty of her exotic platinum hair and violet eyes, but rather the familiar wiring and mechanisms built into the collar.  A psyker.  She was a psyker.

She heard a clamoring sound and saw with some alarm that the area around her had suddenly become barren as everyone turned on their heels and ran off in a panic.  That is, except for the bald-headed man, who snorted at the upturned dust left in their wake.  I guess even the most wayward of places shares the fear of the Witch, thought Natalia, as she adjusted her cloak to hide her own dampeners better.  She had never seen a psyker display the dampeners so openly.  It was strange, but somehow comforting at the same time.  At least nothing was being held back.

An audible sigh brought her attention back to the man from the desk, who slowly strode over, shaking his head at the discarded contracts littering the floor.

"Captain, I wish we didn't have to do this.  There are plenty of ways to break it to the applicants."

The woman nodded and said, "I prefer all of our potential crew to know the situation they are joining.  And after all," she said with a warm smile that Natalia felt was directed directly at her, "We didn't lose everyone."

Natalia was about to say something when she was interrupted by the bald-headed man who snorted and said, "No one that matters at any rate."

With an elegant curtsey, the woman bowed in deference to the man, who gave a slight smirk and nod in return.  Apparently someone liked their ego stroked, Natalia thought.

"The great Baron Wilhelm von Oberheim, I presume?"

"Indeed.  And you would be Captain Mordhiem?"

With a smile, Captain Mordheim replied, "Captain Jenna Mordheim of the Rogue Trader Anne Bonney at your service.  You honour my crew with your presence."

A stifled snort came from the man once at the desk, a feeling that Natalia echoed.  She shot a smile and a wave a the man, who blushed and looked away.  Trying not to bounce in satisfaction, she said to herself, You still have it Talia.  Granted, he's probably nobody of consequence, and you won't have to worry about stepping on the toes of anyone of importance, but it's nice to know that a little flirting still works.  Maybe ask him out to dinner or something.  The poor clerk's probably lonely and all.  Nobody to really pay attention to him.  She could help him out and he'd help her integrate with the crew.  Maybe she'd even have friends.  Things would be alright this time around.  All she had to do is...

"And this is my Seneschal, Lieutenant Jack Hawkins."

Natalia felt the blood drain from her face as she looked back to see Captain Mordheim indeed gesturing at her man.  The man.  The man who was second in command of the whole bloody ship.  Good job, Talia, she thought.  No trouble here.  At least she doesn't know that I'm a ...

"I'm afraid I don't know your name."

Natalia looked back to see the woman staring at her.  She felt a slight, almost gentle sweep of psychic energy and watched the woman raise an eyebrow in surprise.  Right, all the cards on the table then.

"Err... Natalia.  Natalia Maximov.  I'm err...  I'm a Psyker."

She winced as Jack took a few quick steps back and the Baron scowled in disgust.  Right, good luck making friends here.

"It's alright dear, you are welcome here."

Natalia turned towards the warm voice and saw the smiling face of Captain Mordheim.  She seemed so inviting.  Although Natalia could feel her power from where she stood, it wasn't an intrusive, crushing force.  Rather it was warm, soothing, and oh so different than what she was used to.  Maybe there was some hope for a bright future after all.

"I thought I hear a familiar voice."

Natalia turned to see another woman exiting the hatch.  And if anything, she was the polar opposite of Captain Jenna.  Taller than Natalia, she had sharp, Attalian features with long, barely kempt black hair that seemed barely held together in a ponytail.  She was wearing what seemed to be an Imperial Guard uniform, except the jacket was open to the navel and it was rather obvious there was nothing underneath.  A lho stick hung loosely from her lip and she walked with a kind of feral grace.  As walked by Natalia, the odd woman winked at her.  Natalia blushed a bit, and then turned to see that the Baron had turned bright red, with veins pulsating on both sides of his head.

"SAIGO!"

The woman smiled widely and said, "Beautiful Baron joins crew?  Day is getting better!"

Stepping between them, Jenna spoke up, "I take it, Baron von Oberheim, that you are familiar with Sergeant Lady Tomoe Saigo?"

"Know her?!" howled the Baron, "I've been spending most of my career getting away from her!  She's a cancer, this woman!  Captain, if you have any sense you will dismiss her immediately...  And then delouse your ship!"

Natalia saw that the Captain had a pained look on her face, and was about to respond, when Sergeant Saigo clucked her tongue derisively.

"Baron-chan does not like me?  Maybe I misremember evenings in your tent."

The Baron growled, "Which would be nothing if you stopped sneaking in at night!  I hate you woman!  I despise you!  You are nothing but a rot on humanity, a pox on the Guard and a black mark on everything an officer should be!"

Saigo turned her head and said with a grin, "So, you want me come by tonight then?"

"If you dare enter my quarters, woman, you do so at you your own risk.  I am done wasting my time here with you and I am disappointed at the quality control of this ship!"

And with that the Baron stormed by all of them and up into the ship.

Natalia exchanged confused looks with Jack, who then turned to look at Lady Jenna, who was looking at a rather excited Lady Saigo.

Jack considered his options very carefully before speaking up, "Lady Saigo, I understand that this new addition was not brought to your attention.  If you like, you can leave our service and there will be no..."

Saigo smiled at Jack and cut him off with a laugh, "Leave?  Why?  I am getting most excellent of hatebang tonight."

Natalia gasped a bit, and Lady Saigo smirked.  Jack tried to find words, but not in time before Lady Saigo went back inside.  Perhaps, Natalia thought, things were going to be more complicated than she had originally thought.

-----------------------------------------------------

"I don't see why we just don't kill them all," growled the self-proclaimed "Count" Khaos of the Bloody Vultures gang.  The young Dark Eldar strutted around the warroom adorned with delicate wraithbone furniture and snarled at it will well-practiced menace, showing off his filed teeth and throwing back his furskin coat with an unnecessary flourish.  His posturing was starting to get on the nerves of the other two Eldar who were doing their best to to tolerate him.  Which was being done to varying degrees of success. 

Farseer Talissa of Craftworld Iyanden shared a look of barely contained disgust with her sister, Illandara.  Talissa was the older of the two Seers, and was held in a much higher regard by the Craftworld.  Taller and more elegant in word and body, Talissa was considered a fine example of Eldar breeding.  She held her companions to the same high expectations that she demanded of herself, and it was clear that the newcomer fell far beneath them.  Illandara, on the other hand, was the quiet and more pensive of the two.  She sat, trying to find solace in her own thoughts while avoiding the gaze of the other two Eldar.  Where Talissa was fiery and decisive, Illandara was cool and calculating.  At least, that was what she told herself, she had to admit.  Certainly recent events had put even that into question.

Khaos had recently joined them in the hunt for their target, the erstwhile Archon Lady D'ysperax.  Lady D'ysperax had betrayed them to the Mon'Keigh and left them to die on a barren, alien world.  It was only by the fortune of Khaine himself that they yet lived.  But living was not enough. 

For Talissa, it was a matter of honour.  Being tricked by one of the Dark Kin was one thing, but being humiliated in front of the Mon'Keigh was certainly another.  Blood would be spilled before she would stop.  Either hers or D'ysperax's. 

As for Illandara, it was more confusing.  Lady D'ysperax had been a confidant and had introduced her to feelings that she had never experienced before.  Ever since the Lady had gone missing, Illandara had felt a void in her life.  Not one of pain or humiliation like her sister, but a strange hunger that needed satisfying.

When Khaos came to the sisters offering up an alliance, they were both wary, as the Dark Eldar had admitted that he was the son of Lady D'ysperax.  But, he had clearly none of the cunning of his parent, and it became clear that he was after one thing: Power.  Ascension through regicide.  Neither of the Eldar wanted to be part of the entire matter, but Khaos had come bearing gifts: An entire menagerie of Dark Eldar beasts.  Creatures that could sniff out Lady D'ysperax no matter where she tried to hide.  So it was that an unlikely alliance was made, one that would no doubt end messily.

Khaos stormed nosily around the room again until Talissa finally chose to respond to his tirade.

"We are not attacking an entire Imperial Outpost for several reasons.  One of which is that we wish to limit unnecessary causalities."

Khaos picked up a small, intricate looking crystalline decoration and openly pocketed it in front of his hosts, earning satisfying frowns as he spoke.

"So you admit your cowardice.  A Dark Eldar would not think twice about a rapid assault against an unwary foe."

"Unwary?" chuckled Talissa, "You mean the outpost that regularly re-outfits parts of the Imperial Navy and has more than ten times our guns and crew?  Now if YOU have done your job right, then we know which ship that your mother..  Lady D'ysperax was last seen on.  We wait for it to leave and then strike decisively."

"But not to kill," interjected Illandara.

Talissa turned to look at Illandara disapprovingly, but Khaos only nodded.

"Yes, yes, best not to turn everything to ash, otherwise how will we be sure she is dead?  No, we wait until they land and then we attack.  But how do we get the empty-headed Mon'Keigh to do that?"

Talissa frowned, as this line of thinking was not something she was expecting, but Illandara spoke up.

"We offer up bait that they must take.  While you have been marshaling our militant forces, dear Sister, and our new 'guest' has been busy stealing our decor, I have taken the time to research our prey.  They are rather simple.  Easily manipulated.  They will dance on our strings until we cut them down."

Raising an eyebrow in suspicion Talissa was about to respond, but stopped.  Illandara had clearly looked into things, and that was enough.  Her sister had been acting oddly as of late, refusing their usual telepathic conferences and remaining more withdrawn than was usual even for her.  It was certainly something to do with the Dark Eldar, but Talissa had neither the time nor the inclination to do such subtle investigations.  In the end, as long as the job was done, the means mattered little.  Justice would be done, and her honour would be restored.  Little else mattered.  A simple enough job really, what could go possibly go wrong?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Pre-Game Thoughts: I am equal parts totally excited as I have a brand spanking-new Codex to play with and well, equally trouser-drenchingly frightened of that enormous BEASTSTAR.  It's a lot of points in a huge unit that I do not think I can deal with.  Hopefully I can sort of steer around it and work for objectives and pick at it while hopefully not being torn to shreds over the turns.  This is going to be a tough one I feel...

Setup: Dawn of War
Mission: Victory Points (!)

Warlord:
-Jack: Can outflank 2 units
-Talissa: Units within 12" use Ld
Powers:
-Jenna: Prescience, Misfortune
-Natalia: Ignores Cover
-Talissa: Fortune, Prescience, Guide
-Illandara: Prescience, Doom, Guide
---------------------------------------------------------------

To be continued!
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

The Man They Call Jayne

Well this should be fun. My current opinion is that the new codex is just as horrific as the last one, in no small part due to the Wyvern Battery, which you have thankfully avoided. Should be one to see then :)
Jaynes Awesome Card Counter: +5

Secondspheres Crash Card Counter +4



Cammerz

I am so pleased to see all of these familiar faces now together in one army, the Baron in particular back in command of Storm Troopers (or at least Tempestus Scions), all that's missing is his old power sword.

As for the new character, I'm liking Natalia and look forward to reading more from her point of view.

The fluff has long been my favourite aspect of your battle reports and I love how we're seeing signs of a larger over-arching plot with Lady D as the shadowy antagonist hiding in the backgound. I'm loving it all.

Now as for the BT points, there isn't a poll this time so I'm guessing we just need to pick the winner, and in this case I'm going to have to say that you'll win. I foresee ruin coming to the Beaststar as pretty much all of your army targets it to the exclusion of all else for the first couple of turns.

Looking good BT, can't wait to see more.

BigToof

Quote from: The Man They Call Jayne on April 25, 2014, 04:14:52 AM
Well this should be fun. My current opinion is that the new codex is just as horrific as the last one, in no small part due to the Wyvern Battery, which you have thankfully avoided. Should be one to see then :)

Thanks for the reply Jayne!
I'm pretty jazzed about the new IG/AM and although they have some tricks, they thankfully have some pretty big weaknesses which should become apparent even in this batrep :)
Did you want anything particular tested in the next one?

Quote from: Cammerz on April 25, 2014, 09:05:31 AM
I am so pleased to see all of these familiar faces now together in one army, the Baron in particular back in command of Storm Troopers (or at least Tempestus Scions), all that's missing is his old power sword.

As for the new character, I'm liking Natalia and look forward to reading more from her point of view.

The fluff has long been my favourite aspect of your battle reports and I love how we're seeing signs of a larger over-arching plot with Lady D as the shadowy antagonist hiding in the backgound. I'm loving it all.

Now as for the BT points, there isn't a poll this time so I'm guessing we just need to pick the winner, and in this case I'm going to have to say that you'll win. I foresee ruin coming to the Beaststar as pretty much all of your army targets it to the exclusion of all else for the first couple of turns.

Looking good BT, can't wait to see more.

Thanks for the reply Cammerz.
I totally forgot about the BT points, as I was just thankful to get this batrep up.
The site is really slow for me, and crashes altogether at times.
Glad you like to see the Baron back!
I'll have to scrounge up points for his sword, as he's really much better as the scion prime (or whatever it's called).
And I'm glad Natalia is getting points as well :)
Saigo I'm still working on , as it's a bit hard to have her and Jax be different characters as their personalities are more similar than the rest of the cast...
In any case, if you'd like to see anything in my next build, let me know!

Best,
-BT

P.S>  BT points are fine this time if you just tell me if you think it'll be a win for Jenna, the Eldar or a tie!
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

The Man They Call Jayne

My vote goes to Jenna.

I am interested to see how the new Bullgryns work out. Ogryns that can have a 3+ armour save just sounds evil to me.
Jaynes Awesome Card Counter: +5

Secondspheres Crash Card Counter +4



Mabbz

I predict that the guard shall win. Also, you should name your priest; ministorum priests are too awesome to be redshirts.

Scoutfox

Boooo. I clicked on this ready to read a full battrep. Looks like it will be a good fight. I'm a bit out of it as far as playing games goes so I've only heard of beast stars and never played against one. The last time I played DE was in 4th with my Tau.

I know I've missed a lot of story so I don't know all the characters but the new psyker looks promising, and it is great to see the Baron.

Just picked up the new Codex yesterday and I'm disappointed my army I've been building for a year actually needs stuff taken out to work. I was expecting price drops everywhere since my normal Tau 1500 point list saved about 150 with the new dex. I need to drop 14 points to keep the units I already have in my Traitor Guard list. Seems they dropped the price of all the units I don't use.

The new dex doesn't seem very different from the last one yet, but I'm sure toes combos will start to show up with the new orders, powers, and tank commanders. Looking forward to trying it out though.

I'm going to play devils advocate and say the Eldar take the day, though I do want the Guard to win.

Tom

I'm very interested in this one. I enjoyed the fluff as usual, but I'm especially interested in how the beaststar goes. I've been thinking about adding a similar detachment of Dark Eldar to my Saim-Hann Eldar to represent exodites riding saurians and give me a reason to finally get my hands on the Cold One Knights set.

25 might be too many eggs in one basket though...

BigToof

Quote from: The Man They Call Jayne on April 25, 2014, 07:25:05 PM
My vote goes to Jenna.

I am interested to see how the new Bullgryns work out. Ogryns that can have a 3+ armour save just sounds evil to me.

Thanks for the reply Jayne!
I'm also really interested in the Bullgryns as they seem pricey but potentially very useful...

Quote from: Mabbz on April 25, 2014, 09:29:34 PM
I predict that the guard shall win. Also, you should name your priest; ministorum priests are too awesome to be redshirts.

Thanks for the reply Mabbz.
I don't have a good priest in mind yet.  Still someone to ponder...  If only that I don't have very many good examples of priests that I can think of in the WH40k universe...

Quote from: Scoutfox on April 25, 2014, 09:52:27 PM
Boooo. I clicked on this ready to read a full battrep. Looks like it will be a good fight. I'm a bit out of it as far as playing games goes so I've only heard of beast stars and never played against one. The last time I played DE was in 4th with my Tau.

I know I've missed a lot of story so I don't know all the characters but the new psyker looks promising, and it is great to see the Baron.

Just picked up the new Codex yesterday and I'm disappointed my army I've been building for a year actually needs stuff taken out to work. I was expecting price drops everywhere since my normal Tau 1500 point list saved about 150 with the new dex. I need to drop 14 points to keep the units I already have in my Traitor Guard list. Seems they dropped the price of all the units I don't use.

The new dex doesn't seem very different from the last one yet, but I'm sure toes combos will start to show up with the new orders, powers, and tank commanders. Looking forward to trying it out though.

I'm going to play devils advocate and say the Eldar take the day, though I do want the Guard to win.

Hi Scoutfox!
Long time no see.  The new dex has lots of little tricks, some of which you'll see here, but really, it's not THAT different.  Some new combos but at it's center it's still tanks and Guardsmen.
Eldar for the win, eh?  Well... let's see how that pans out...

Quote from: Tom on April 25, 2014, 11:12:45 PM
I'm very interested in this one. I enjoyed the fluff as usual, but I'm especially interested in how the beaststar goes. I've been thinking about adding a similar detachment of Dark Eldar to my Saim-Hann Eldar to represent exodites riding saurians and give me a reason to finally get my hands on the Cold One Knights set.

25 might be too many eggs in one basket though...

Thanks for the reply Tom.
Glad you like the fluff!
I'll be adding a bit more now as the rep starts to form.
I like you idea for the Dark Eldar Cold Ones.  It's a nice idea.
Getting the "just right" size of beaststar is kind of hard.  The one in this list is pretty extreme, but I think he was trying it just to see how it would work.  And it is a nasty piece of work for not a horrible amount of points.  It just can't do some things.  Like you know... shoot at people.

Best,
-BT

Here's some more fluff and the rest is coming soon!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------
Interlude: A Rude Awakening
-----------------------------

It started off simple enough, Natalia Maximov told herself.  All of the officer ranked crew were assigned their own quarters, and with some trepidation, she had discovered that Baron von Oberheim had been quartered directly next door to her.  She had attempted to say something neighborly as they were walking towards their rooms, but the Baron had made his intent very clearly when he said that he always slept with his laspistol and ANY noise during the night might cause him to discharge it in a potentially deadly manner.  Well, at least I don't snore, Natalia thought. 

The ship set off to the Void soon enough and with a tremble of reality shedding itself, they were underway.  Most of the crew she had encountered were thankfully clueless of the true nature of the Immaterium.  Just beyond the protective thin layer of the Geller Field lay a predatory universe of monsters and maniacs, ready to tear apart anything that dare let it's guard down.  Psykers were an especially tasty morsel for the Daemons and she had heard more than one tale of a Psyker suddenly being possessed during a jump and exploding in a grisly pile from which a Daemon began an equally grisly massacre. 

Still, it had been hours since the ship had been in the Warp and nothing had happened.  The lights were dimmed, if only to indicate that it was "night" and an appropriate time to get some sleep.  Natalia had turned in and looked around her large, but mostly empty room.  A table, desk, bed, and a few closets.  Bigger than what she was used to, but if anything, sort of lonely. 

The Catachans were always packed to the brim, and although she was given her own space, you were rarely out of sight or earshot from somebody.  Maybe I'll get used to it, she thought.  The Baron was rough and abrasive, but maybe there'd be some hope of her meeting someone on the ship that wouldn't either despise or fear her.  The Captain was certainly an option, but Lady Jenna was...  was like the sun. 

Just being near her was comforting, but the intensity made Natalia uncomfortable.  She was used to being the only Psyker, certainly the most powerful one.  Having another one that dwarfed her own abilities with such ease was disquieting to say the least. 

Throne, she thought, I'm not jealous...  Am I?  I mean, what's to be jealous of?  She's just elegant, gorgeous and oozes power and respect with a casual confidence that everyone loves.  Of course... this is her ship and it's your first day, so there's that to take into account.  Which was coming up pretty soon.  Being tired on the first day of the job wasn't going to make a  great first impression.  Best to get some rest then.

She switched off the light and snuggled under the covers.  The ship was warm with a quiet, soft humm that seemed to reverberate through it's walls.  Natalia was just about to doze off when she heard a clicking sound coming from her door.  Maybe someone's lost, she thought.  It made a sort of sense.  All the doors did look similar with only a different number to tell them apart.  They'll figure it out soon and...

And that was when the lock clicked open.  The hallway was still dark, and Natalia couldn't see anything as something... No, someone walked in and closed the door behind them.  There were soft footsteps that grew louder as they slowly approached her.  Oh Throne above, thought Natalia, What do I do?  Is this a thief or something?  Should I say something, do something?  She glanced around and realized with some fear that there wasn't anything she could use for a weapon.  Which left her powers. 

Fire, bio-electricity and worse were at her disposal, but she stopped as a possibility entered her mind.  What if it was the Seneshal?  She swallowed and felt it catch in her throat.  She had flirted with him, before she knew who he was.  Maybe...  Maybe he was interested in her too.  Or maybe this was some kind of initiation thing?  If she seriously hurt... or even killed him, they'd space her or worse.  The footsteps slowed as they reached the bed, and Natalia felt the covers over her left foot lift up.  Something warm and wet went over her toes and it took her a moment to realize that it was someone's tongue.  She resisted the urge to pull away and pulled the covers tighter over her head.  Maybe he'd give up interest if she pretended to be asleep.  Or...  Or maybe he'd just be quick.  Probing fingers went up her calf, her knee, and she tried not to flinch when they reached her thigh... and then went higher...  And then suddenly stopped.

The lights flicked on, and Natalia blinked a few times as her vision cleared.  She was more than a bit surprised to see the topless form of Lady Saigo, who looked at her with some confusion and was awaft in a miasma of alcohol.

Natalia swallowed and whispered, "The Baron's next door."

Lady Saigo nodded with an appreciative grin, shut off the lights and after a few moments, Natalia thankfully heard the door close.  Maybe I'll get some sleep now, she thought.  A few more moments passed by as utter relief passed through her and she was about to drift to sleep.  But, that was when the screaming started.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WOMAN?!"

That was indeed the Baron's voice.

"Having a fun time, Baron-chan."

And that... was Lady Saigo.

"GET OUT RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

"No.  You are not... hard enough to make me."

"NOT...  YOU DARE INSINUATE SUCH A THING?!"

There was a crash of something breaking, and Natalia grabbed her covers tighter.  Throne, were they fighting?  The Baron said he had a pistol.  He could kill Lady Saigo.  And she was the one who casually told her where he was.  Natalia swallowed.  She could have mentioned the pistol.  She could have said that she didn't know where the Baron was.  There were a lot of possible responses.  But, she was just too concerned about getting Lady Saigo out of her room.  If anything happened to her...

Natalia started to sit up, when there was a feral growl, and a tearing sound.  Then, there was a shaking coupled with feminine... laughter. 

Oh. 

Stars.

Natalia layed back down and tried to drown out the noises next door with her own internal monologue.  Songs, humming, meditative techniques.  But nothing was really working.  Then, after what seemed like forever, it stopped.  Natalia breathed a sigh of relief, and then something slammed into the wall behind her head and the entire wall began to vibrate with a concussive intensity.  Natalia grabbed her pillow around her ears, which muffled the voices into animalistic sounds and girlish squeals of delight.  It'll stop, thought Natalia, it'll stop soon. 

But, it didn't.

Which is why she was popping in and out of consciousness during the mission briefing.  Seneschal Hawkins had called everyone together to discuss the newest mission, which was almost hallucinogenic from her point of view.  The briefing was held on the rather luxurious bridge, with all of the officers present seated around a large semi-circular table. 

Lady Jenna was looking her usual dapper self, seated next to a lady officer that was introduced to her as Captain Alyssa Jax.  Jax looked rather prim and somewhat proper, wearing a full uniform with her hair done with red highlights and curls.  But, there was a kind of forced nature to it all, and Natalia couldn't help but think she was trying to make a good impression.  She also had the same kind of accent as the Seneschal, which Natalia still hadn't been able to place, but that was alright. 

Somehow the Baron and Lady Saigo were still upright and conscious.  The Baron looked again as if he had been brought straight out of a advert poster with not a hair out of place from his usual taciturn ensemble.  And Lady Saigo was in her usual heap, smelling musky and sending winks and kisses at the Baron from time to time.  Natalia's version of the briefing was somewhat hampered, as the lights were dimmed and the humm from the holopic seemed to take over her brain.  The Seneschal stood up and with a grim look to everyone began talking.

"Alright everyone, thank you for coming at this early hour.  As many of you are aware, we are responding to a distress signal from..."

Natalia felt her head almost hit the back of her chair and she started in what she hoped was not too sharp a manner.  Oh, he was still going on.

"... and air recon and reinforcements will be under the privy of Captain Jax and Baron von Oberheim.  Now, it is of the utmost import that we do not..."

Something touched her head, and Natalia blinked her eyes open.  Throne above, she had almost head-desked in front of everyone.

"...  And that should cover most of everything.  Remember everyone, this is a search and rescue operation.  We do not know the exact details regarding the crash, but we must be wary.  Good luck to us all."

And with that, everyone stood up and walked away.  Throne above, thought Natalia.  I hope nobody noticed.

She started to walk away when she heard Captain Jax's voice.

"Hey, kid."

Wincing slightly, she turned around and saw the smirking Captain looking at her.

"You've got some drool hanging off the right side."

Trying not to turn Harakoni red, she wiped the side of her face as quick as she could.  The Captain chuckled and said,
"Jack does prattle on a bit long there.  Did you catch the important bits?"

Sweat broke out on Natalia's forehead as she struggled between admitting guilt and covering using her obviously lacking social wit.

"Uh..."

Jax chuckled and walked towards her, holding out a piece of paper.  Throne, thought Natalia, Is this a demerit or something?  She took it and was somewhat surprised to find that it was notes.  Scribbled in small script, but legible.

"Hopefully, that'll help you out."

Natalia nodded somewhat woodenly.  "Umm...," she began, "Thank you.  I didn't mean..."

Jax waved off her apology, "Don't mention it, kid.  I remember when I was like you, joining up and trying to fit in.  But, they're a good bunch.  They'll take the hot-heads and cowards and trollops and somehow make a crew out of them.  They'll even forgive you if..."

The Captain trailed off and looked despondent.

A few minutes passed by, and Natalia wasn't really sure what to say.

"I...  Umm..."

Jax looked up as if somehow reminded that Natalia was still there.

"Sorry.  I... I've done things recently that have bollocksed up the whole ship.  Things they should have spaced me for.  I let her get away and they...  They just... forgave me.  Without any censure.  Then they put me as second-in-charge of this whole sodding operation!  Do you have any idea what that feels like?  How can I possibly be trusted with all of this when I almost got us all kill..."

She stopped in mid-sentence and looked up at Natalia, who was still frozen in place.  I should say something comforting, thought Natalia.  Come on now, you took those courses on interpersonel communications.  Right, just say something from that.

"Umm... Uh...  The Emperor will see us through?"

Jax frowned at Natalia, who was worried that she might take a swing at her, and then the Captain tittered and then laughed heartily, leaning against a wall as tears came to her eyes.

"Good...  good one, kid.  That broke the doldrums right out of me.  See you around.  And take care of the Captain.  Make sure she doesn't get herself killed out there."

As Jax walked away, Natalia couldn't feel anything more than just more confused.  What was going on?  And how was she going to do anything to help Lady Jenna?  After all, it wasn't like she was going to be on the front line...  Was she?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

Mabbz

Well, that was amusing. While I was reading that I couldn't stop thinking that it would have been even more ridiculous if Lady Saigo was the priestess. She seems very good at motivating people :shifty:

BigToof

Quote from: Mabbz on April 26, 2014, 07:52:16 PM
Well, that was amusing. While I was reading that I couldn't stop thinking that it would have been even more ridiculous if Lady Saigo was the priestess. She seems very good at motivating people :shifty:

Glad you liked the fluff Mabbz!

This rep kind of got crazy and there's a lot more than usual.

As for the priestess... Wait...  Priests can be Attalian...  Priestess....

CLICK.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

You can take credit for the new girl, who will probably show up next episode :)

----------------------------------------

Now onto the rest of the rep!

-----------------------------------------

======================================================================================

Setup:
Well, the terrain fairy this time around REALLY likes trees. There's one big ruin in the center of one of the deployment zones, and one in the center.  Smaller ruins are around, but what is really prevalent is a LOT of forests.  (Probably due to the other players absconding with all the sizable pieces...) 

In any case, the Eldar get the choice to go first, and take it, putting the beaststar in the center of their zone with the big ruin, and the Wraithknight and Wave Serpents in the back.  The Venom and Jetbikes go in reserve. 

I decide to take the corner with the other sizable ruin and caste up, putting Jack's Chimera in the corner, with the Russes in front of him and the blob (with Priest and both Psykers) in front of them.  And... now I realize I didn't leave room for the Vet's Chimera, so I decide to outflank with Lady Saigo and the Vendetta with Jax and have the Baron and his Storm...  I mean "Scions" deep strike in.
With all that setup, I decide to try and seize, naturally fail, and then the game is on!


Picture Caption: My... what big teeth you have...

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------------------------------
Interlude Two: Bigger Guns
-----------------------------

By the Emperor, thought Natalia, What am I doing?  Trudging through the grass in the front line, just waiting to be shot at?  None of it sounded pretty smart.  But, then again, there wasn't anything that gave any sign that there should be anything to worry about. 

Scouts and scans had gone down on the area and supposedly there wasn't anything resembling trouble.  But something was itching in the back of her mind, and Natalia was hard pressed to ignore it.  Of course, that was assuming the mission made sense, which to Natalia, it didn't. 

They were following a distress call from a refugee ship that had supposedly crash landed on the planet.  But, the scans hadn't found anyone at the crash and the signal was oddly enough far away.  It was possible that the survivors had managed to hobble their way over there, but why were there no bodies? 

Other questions came to mind, but it was apparent that Lady Jenna was more interested in helping than asking questions.  But, why? 

There wasn't any money involved.  Refugees didn't have anything of value, and Jenna didn't seem like a slaver.  So, why would she expend all of this time and effort?  Perhaps I should ask her, Natalia thought, as she glanced over to see Lady Jenna calmly striding through the tall grass.  Just as she was about to try, her commbead wailed, drawing her attention.

It was the Seneschal.

"Captain.  We're getting some kind of energy readings in your area do you..."

There was a sudden tremor, and Natalia looked over and felt her jaw drop as a massive, Xenos head crossed over the top of a ruin in the distance.  They were not alone.

"Eldar!," barked the comm, "Everyone, battle stations!  Find cover and prepare for their assault!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------
Turn 1: Eldar
-----------------

Farseer Talissa turned in her seat, watching the Mon-Keigh run for cover.  She was about to order the retreat to the Webway when Khaos' grating force broke her reverie.

"Why did you drop the holofield?  We were almost on top of them!"
Talissa turned and growled a response, "Lady D'ysperax is not with them.  There is no point in continuing this.  We have shown ourselves and they will withdraw.  Bloodshed is pointless."

The Dark Eldar threw back his head and let off a bloodcurdling cackle, "Pointless?  Bloodshed is never pointless.  You just need someone to show you the way!  CHARGE!"

Talissa swore as the beasts around her charged forwards.  If she abandoned Khaos and the beasts, then there would be no way to track D'ysperax.  She had no choice for now, but the boy would not end this day without repercussions.
--------------------------------------------
Power go down successfully, giving Fortune to the blob and basically twin-linking everyone.

The Beaststar and Wraithknight move up.  The Wave Serpents also move up, one getting within range of using it's scatter lasers.  Thankfully, I lose only a half dozen or so to the shooting as the shields roll sort of mediocre.  The Wraithknight fires at the Punisher, but only manages a glance.



Picture Caption: Huh, that's getting pretty close for comfort...


------------------
Turn 1: Lady Jenna
------------------

Natalia had never run as fast as she just had.  Her lungs and feet seemed to have a mind of their own, and only stopped when the men in front of her slowed down.  Skidding to a stop, she saw the trio of enormous tanks past them.  It'll be alright now, she thought.  Three battle tanks should be enough to stop anything and...

A howling made her whip her head back to where she had just run from.  A horde of otherworldly creatures, flickering in and out of existence were charging at them. 

Oh, stars, she thought, What now? 

Looking around, she saw that the men around her had similar thoughts running through their heads, but then there was a crashing sound next to her her.  Lady Jenna had slammed her staff down hard enough to send tremors along the ground.

"Crew of the Anne Bonney, do not dismay, this is our time.  We fight as a family.  I trust all of you, and I only ask... Trust yourselves."

Everyone nodded, and even Natalia felt somehow more confident.  Perhaps it wasn't as bad as it seemed.  They had a lot of guns after all.

"Natalia.  Your hand please."

Natalia looked over to see Lady Jenna with a serious look on her face.  She was holding out one of her delicate looking hands and Natalia recognized what she was suggesting.  A bridge.  There were many terms for it, but it was basically a link between Psykers.  A way to amplify your abilities.  It was something she hadn't tried since the Scholasta and she had always found it disquietingly... intimate.  But, there was no time for introspection here.  Blushing slightly, she took the Captain's hand.  There was a flare of bluish light as Lady Jenna's inhibitors went  off-line.  Psychic energy rolled off of her like a fountain and enveloped her hands.  Suddenly, Natalia felt her own powers acting in kind.  It became hard to tell where she ended and Jenna began.  It was warm, so comfortable.  And there was power...  So much power... 

Right, so... uh... Let's get the Pysker stuff going.
Prescience goes on the blob.  So does ignore cover.  The beasts are just shy of misfortune, so I don't pop that out.  I move the blob around so more meatshield goes in front.

Then the shooting starts.

Orders first, and I put the new BRING IT DOWN to the test.  The blob fires out and twin linked to hit and to penetrate WITH ignores cover, I manage (barely) to wreck the closest Wave Serpent.  I also pop out ON MY TARGET (for ignores cover) on the Master of Ordinance.  I aim for the center of the blob and it scatters pretty far... right onto the other Wave Serpent.  That I penetrate and stun.  Uh... yeah...  I meant to do that.

The Vanquisher puts a wound on the Wraithknight, and then Punisher opens up with all of it's guns.  Even with Fortune, a small handful of Beasts go down, but there's still PLENTY more where they came from.


Picture Caption: Fact #1: New Orders are AWESOME.

-----------------------------
Turn 2: Eldar
----------------------------

"Farseer!"

Talissa turned in time to watch the Wave Serpent near her explode into a firey cataclysm.  How had the Mon-Keigh been able to pierce the Holo-Fields so easily?  Something was wrong, it made little...
There was a flicker of something, and Talissa saw a bluish glow eminating from the gathered Guardsmen cowering in their ruin.  Psykers.  Mutant Mon-Keigh with a hint of power.  They would dare try to challenge the true masters of fate?

"Forward!" she barked, "Let not the Mon-Keigh think they have us beaten!  It is now their turn to bleed!"
----------------------------------------------------------

Psy-powers go down fine again for everyone.  The Farseers WAY in the back are out of Doom range (thank goodness).  All of the Eldar reserves come in and basically go to the far center of their backfield, wary of my outflankers.

The Beaststar moves up and they are now terrifyingly close.  The Wraithknight also moves to one flank, trying to get a bead/possible assault on my tanks.

Shooting is thankfully quite mild, as the Wraithnknight fails to penetrate my Russes.


Picture Caption: Man, they are REALLY close now.


----------------------
Turn 2: Lady Jenna
----------------------

"Fething hells!," screamed Alyssa Jax aboard the Vendetta "Lovely Angels." 

Every comm had suddenly burst to life and the Auspex was practically aglow with targets.  So many of the little buggers were scampering towards Jack and the Captain.  And all she had was this big sodding ship with it's big sodding Lascannons.  Great for blasting a tank to shreds, but not for dealing with a horde of Xenos dogs.  And to think that the Valkyrie was cheaper...

Still, there must be...  A group of trees fell to one side as an enormous creature the size of a Bastion leaped up and over a ruin.  It was painted a gaudy yellow and blue with guns the size of a Russ. 

Yeah... that'll do.

"All reinforcements, this is Captain Jax, target the big Xenos thing over there.  Coordinate on my mark..."

Suddenly, something whipped by her ship and she saw a smaller, sleeker Valkyrie swing by them.  Swearing, she could only just hang on as the newcomer dropped low and a quintet of heavily armed Guardsmen grav-chuted with precision timing. 

They hit the ground moments before discharging their Meltaguns, tearing an enormous chunk out of the Xenos creatures' side.  It fell to it's knees, giving a perfect kill-shot for the Vendetta's big guns.  Lascannons fired to some effect, but somehow the big thing was still up. 

Perfect, just great.  Now how were they going to...

"SAIGO!"

A roar of engines brought her attention to a Chimera rolling over some trees and then a pair of wild looking plasmagun shots fired out, almost missing the Xenos creature, but doing enough damage to finally bring it down.

Exhaling, Jax let herself sit down.  "Good...  Good job, everyone.  Jax out."

---------------------------------------------------------
I roll for reserves and... EVERYONE comes on.

Wow.

Ok.

Psy-powers go off.  Presience and Igonore Cover again.  I try for Misfortune on the Beaststar.  It goes off and...

HE FAILS TO DENY THE WITCH.
.
..
...

Now it's time to GET SERIOUS.

I roll for the outflankers and manage to get both of them coming down the right side.  I deep strike first through, and drop the Baron with his four meltaguns close enough to the Wraithknight.  The other Storm... I mean Scions deep-strike near the Wave Serpent.  The Vendetta goes right in the face of the Knight, and the Vets also get within shooting range.  Yes, I want that Knight out of the picture.

Shooting has the blob open up with FIRST RANK SECOND RANK FIRE, and a whole swath of wounds go down on the Beaststar.  They take some wounds, but most importantly, the Baron goes down!  The Master of Ordinance hits the blob as well with Ignores Cover, and takes out a chunk of Beastmasters.  The Punisher adds more fire, and when all is said and done, the blob is below half strength.  But, well, that's still a LOT of beasts.

The rest of my army fires into the Knight and easily finishes it off.  Mild overkill perhaps, but I do NOT want that thing rampaging around my lines.  I try to do some damage with the Scions, but with the Serpent's shields up, I only manage to do another glance...


Picture Caption: Ok, the Knight is down, the Beasts are blunted, but is it enough?
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

BigToof

-------------------
Turn 3: Eldar
--------------------

What was going on?  thought Talissa as some kind of Mon-Keigh energy warped over the Beasts.  She felt her own skeins of protection weaken and that was enough for the damage to be done.  A veritable ocean of laser fire washed onto her squad, and she saw the entire front of her squad torrented away.  Khaos himself was torn into little shreds, the only good part about the entire debacle.  But what to do now?  The Wraithknight had fallen.  Khaos was dead, and the Beasts were at best half-strength.  Should she fall back?  Play the safe game?

She gritted her teeth.  NO.  She would not lose face to the Mon-Keigh again.  It might mean the death of all of them, but she would be redeemed.
-------------------------------------------------------

Powers go off alright, but my opponent is left with a hard decision.
He could multi-assault into the backfield and clean it up, but then the blob would still be at full strength.  He could still go for the blob, but without the Baron's grenades, that means they're going to be going after my Guardsmen can swing.  But, if he wins, that's A LOT of VPs, with the option of basically wiping away my entire backfield of tanks.  He does a lot of measuring, and then decides to GO FOR IT.  He moves the Beaststar up to the face of my blob, and it's obvious he's going for it.  The Eldar in his backfield move back away from my forces and take apart the Scions with splinter and laser/shield fire.  The Avengers put a few wounds on the Baron's squad, but not enough to shoot them off.  He tries for an assault with them and fails.

The Beast-star then assaults!  I have my Priest go for re-roll saves, and he gets it!  I get a truck load of dice for overwatch, but he rolls like a boss and loses much less than he should have.  Then, I challenge with Lady Jenna.  He pushes up Illandara (the non-Warlord). Lady Jenna pummels the Farseer down a wound, who also wounds the Captain. The rest of the blob hits as hard as they can and I'm somewhat elated that I manage to drop the beast count down to about eight or so.  Then I'm told that the beasts have FOUR attacks each.  That's four attacks.  Re-roll to hit AND to wound (thanks to Prescience and Doom).  There's a LOT of wounds, and even with re-rolls I'm down to about half my blob.  Super-thankfully, the Priest makes us Fearless so we stay stuck in.


Picture Caption: Things are getting dicey!


-----------------------------
Turn 3: Lady Jenna
----------------------------

Illandara charged forwards with her sister, as always to another pointless battle, to another pointless victory.  What was to be achieved here?  D'ysperax wasn't even here.  What she wanted...  No, what she NEEDED wasn't here.  Just more Mon-Keigh to kill.  She hadn't even noticed the gaudily dressed creature was talking to her for a few minutes.

"...  Lady Jenna Mordehim of the Rogue Trader Anne Bonney.  You can still turn back.  There is no need for all of this.  There is another way."

Illandara laughed as she readied her Wychblade.  Peace?  This child was talking peace to her in this day and age?  Now that was insulting.  Best to end this quickly then. 

Surging forward, she thrust out and although her aim was true, there was a spark of some kind of energy field that pushed the blow slightly away, grazing the female, but not enough to kill.  Illandara snarled with irritation, but then was surprised when the Mon-Keigh's staff slammed into her bike.  It hit one of the engines, and the bike spiraled out of control.  The ground was coming up too fast and she was too ill-prepared for the possibility of defeat.  How could she have let this happen?

-------------------------------------------------------

Baron von Oberheim swore as splinters of Xenos weaponry cut into his squad.  The other Scions had failed to destroy their targets?  Incompetents!  Just his luck.  To die due to the ill fates of the universe.  What more could possibly...

"Baron-chan want a ride?"

The Baron swiveled around to see Lady Saigo poking her head out of her Chimera's hatch.

"Get out of that tank immediately, woman!  Better things need protecting than your rancid hide!"

He raced around the side of the tank as Lady Saigo and her squad swiftly dismounted.  She blew him a kiss that made the Baron grit his teeth in disgust.

"Stop your tomfoolery!  This is a battlefield!  ...  And take out those Eldar!  You lot know how to use a Lasgun, don't you?"

----------------------------------------

Well, now that the Stars are engaged, all I can do is try to clean up the backfield for points.  I get Lady Saigo out of her ride and pop the Baron inside for cover.  The Vendetta moves up to try and take out the Wave Serpent.  I remember that the Baron can use orders!

Telling Lady Saigo to FRFSRF, she rolls enough wounds to take out the small unit of Avengers.
The Wave Serpent falls to the Vendetta, and my Master of Ordinance hits the table next door.

In the main event, the Blob is once again stymied by Misfortune, and it's still a re-roll fest thanks to my Priest.  Lady Jenna survives thanks to re-rolls and takes out the Farseer!  The Beasts chow down on more Guardsmen, but I think it's starting to turn slightly my way, as he's now down to about half a dozen Beasts.  Unfortunately, I don't have THAT many more Guardsmen.



Picture Caption: Ugh, I think I can go the distance...


-----------------------
Turn 4: Eldar
-----------------------

A great cheer went up amongst the surviving Guardsmen as the Farseer fell, coupled with a great cry from the other Xenos Witch.  Natalia watched as the Xenos flew forward on her bike, pushing aside beasts until she reached the fallen Eldar.  Cradling her in her hands, the Xenos shuddered, rocking her as if she was a child.  Natalia exchanged looks with Lady Jenna, who was leaning heavily on her staff.  Maybe things would end now.  The Eldar weren't known for their perseverance and courage.  Maybe they would fall back and...

And with a sudden rage, the Xenos twisted her blade free and pointed it at Jenna, who seemed to barely have the strength to stand on her own.

"My Sister has lived for ten times your pathetic life.  And you dare lay a hand on her?  I will have your blood for this Mon-Keigh!"

Lady Jenna nodded, as if to accept her fate.  Natalia's mind, on the other hand, was racing.  What could she do?  What SHOULD she do?  The Witch seemed so powerful, so dangerous.  If Natalia tried to challenge her, she would be taken apart assuredly.  But Lady Jenna couldn't fight her in the condition she was in.  And...  And...

And there wasn't anything more to think of then.

"You'll...  You'll have to go through me first!"

Talissa turned in her seat to see another, smaller Mon-Keigh pointing it's staff at her.  It looked barely more than a youngling.  Pitiful really.

"I am Farseer Talissa of the Craftworld Iyanden.  I have lived a dozen of your lifetimes, you small pathetic wretch.  You dare to challenge me?"

"Uh... Ummm..." said the small Mon-Keigh, sweat dripping down her face.  "Y... Yes?"

"So be it," said Talissa, "Let it not be said that I did not give you a chance to survive."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fortune goes up again with Prescience for the Eldar, but THANKFULLY there is no Doom.
The Eldar in the backfield scoot around a bit, and try to put some wounds on Lady Saigo's squad, but to no real effect.

Looking a bit desperate, my opponent challenges with his last Farseer!  I'm a bit surprised, but I guess he doesn't want to chance taking Power Axes to the face.  I'm a bit unsure, as I don't really know who to choose.  A Sergeant will get steamrolled.  Lady Jenna's on one wound.  And that leaves us with... Natalia?  Uh... sure.

So I push up the newb, and hope that she can do something.  Thankfully, the Eldar seem to be running out of gas, as without Doom, they lose a lot of their wounds, and I finally manage to pare the Beasts down to just a few.  Natalia and Talissa swing at each other to no real effect.




--------------------------
Turn 4: Lady Jenna
--------------------------

How do I get myself into things like this? thought Natalia as the Eldar crashed her Wychblade into her staff time and time again.  The Eldar was so fast, it was like trying to hit lightning.  Granted, it wasn't swinging that often, but Natlalia felt it was almost out of revulsion for having to swing at her.  But, soon, very soon, one of those slashes would find it's mark and there'd just be another body on the ground.

Why did I think I ever had a chance?  Natalia shook her head.  And for what?  A ship that despised her?  Feared her?  Why bother?  Why bother to even try?  Best just to take it and...

"Maximov!"

Talia turned her head slightly and saw that Lady Jenna had just raised her staff and shouted her name.  She wasn't trying to intervene, but why...

"Maximov!"

It was another voice.  One of the Sergeants.  But... But why...

"Maximov!  Maximov!  Maximov!"

The crowd began chanting her name.  This was silly, thought Natalia.  Nobody's trying to actually help me?  Did they think that just shouting my name would...

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!"

Natalia looked back to see the Eldar trying to quiet the Guardsmen, who, if anything, became more loud and expressive in their cheers.  And that meant that the ancient Xenos who had lived for centuries and was more powerful than any human could ever imagine... was distracted.

Throwing all of her weight into her staff, Natalia closed her eyes and swung.  Forcing some of her power into the staff, it hit like a tank, bashing the Xenos off her bike and knocking her senseless on the ground.

Gasping, Natalia leaned on her staff as the Guardsmen around her rushed in and congratulated her.  Maybe today wasn't going to be such a bad day after all...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I push up the Vendetta and the Chimera just in case things go into overtime.
The Vendetta busts up the Venom.
Then, in assault, all eyes turn to the challenge.  Talissa swings, but fails to wound Natalia, who swings back, wounds and I FORCE WEAPON the Farseer into the ground.  The Beasts get cleaned up shortly thereafter.

Looking at the great disparity in VPs, my opponent throws in the towel.


Picture Caption: Way to go Talia!

----------------------------
RESULT: LADY JENNA VICTORY!
----------------------------

=========================================================

----------------------------
Post-Game Thoughts:
Ugh, I HATE deathstars.  That Beaststar was super nasy and if I had one less thing turn up in my favor it would have been all over.  It still was ALMOST all over, as I was down to my Sergeants, Lady Jenna (on one wound), Natalia, the Priest and I think two random Guardsmen.

.

.. 

...

That's NOT a lot out of 33 that I started with.  So, is the Beaststar effecive?  Undoubtedly.  Should it be careful of Misfortune?  YES.  Will I probably try to roll Misfortune every time I play now?  HELL YES.

So now... unit rundown (in no real particular order):

1.  The Blob
The Blob is now SO good, it feels dirty.  With more than one Psyker, you have a good chance of getting ignores cover or some other kind of power that just augments the blob completely.  The CCS adds to the goodness with their orders, but just getting one or two buffs really escalates the effectiveness of the blob.  Wave Serpents used to laugh at my Lascannons.  Now?  I feel like I can stomp out Mech Eldar!  (Who would have ever thought that?)

2.  Psykers and Priests
I can see most lists revolving around your ICs now.  Priests make the blob much more effective and you can actually win duels now thanks to their re-rolls.  Psykers are the main goodness though, and just taking one or two of them augments your blobs and takes to near-ludicrous levels.  I just hate taking TOO many, as they are still pretty squishy and there's lots of things out there that can crush them (Wyverns, Thunderfire Cannons, etc).  Still, if you manage to saturate your opponent's threat capacity (and NOT just take two 50-man blobs with all the fixings), then you'll be in pretty good shape.

3.  The Russes
Damn solid.  The Punisher is still a beast and although I didn't get a chance to pop Prescience on it, I can see how that would be awesome.  The Vanquisher didn't do much, but I think that was because the rest of the list did so well...  I might scale it back for next game, as it's my most expensive tank so far.

4.  The CCS
Good.  Not for much, but it gives ORDERS, which takes your blob from Zeroes to Heroes pretty easily.  I still like the Master of Ordinance, just for the fear it puts into people and keeps them from bunching up.  Which means that they're less likely to take advantage of cover and whatnot.  BTW, Master of Ordinance with Ignore Cover is serious gold, and I think will be my new favorite.

5.  The Stormtroopers (Scions)
You can change the name, but they are still solid workhorses.  The Command Squad though, is just BRUTAL for it's points.  FOUR MELTA GUNS that you can deep strike and give orders?  Are you kidding me?  So good as it spreads out orders and can murderize almost anything mechanized it gets close to.  The smaller Scions work pretty well too, and are cheaper, so not too bad.

6.  The Vets
Plasma vets are hella fun and now cheaper with Carapace, so I can't complain.  Good, but didn't do anything too terribly exciting.

7.  The Vendetta
Now that it's more expensive than a Punisher with all the fixings, I don't feel AS dirty about playing with one.  Good for transporting around the PCS, and offers up some much needed anti-air.  I kind of think it's growing on me (like a fungus...).

8.  The PCS
Well, didn't do much as I didn't have a good target, but if it went to turn 5, the HEAVY FLAMER and TRIPLE FLAMER combo was going to make some Space Elves very, VERY unhappy.  I like that.

Overall I like this list.  Natalia is getting popular and earned her place by force-weaponing the beans out of that Farseer.  Also, more powers is never a bad thing.  The only thing I think I need to play with is the Vanquisher, as it's really pricey for a tank that has Multi-Meltas and isn't that fast.  I could try other units out too.  So, room to play with, that's always good.  The future seems bright for the Guard!

===========================================================================

----------------
Epilogue
----------------

Seneschal Jack Hawkins paced outside the medical tent.  He had learned long ago to not to try to rush things or enter in early.  The last time lead him to see Jax and Jenna without full clothing on and that was... uncomfortable.  After a bit longer, the tent flap opened and the medic walked out, taking off his blood-stained gloves.

"Captain's ready to see you, Seneschal."

Jack nodded and walked in, fearing the worst.  Sitting next to the sprawled out Natalia Maximov was Lady Jenna, who smiled warmly at Jack.  Jack walked forward, raising an eyebrow.

"What happened to her?  Was she hit?  I didn't see any..."

Lady Jenna smiled and responded, "They were lifting her up in one of those cheers and hit her head on one of the branches.  She'll be fine."

Wincing slightly, Jack sat down.  "I'm not sure if I like how things are going, Captain...  Jenna.  You should be in charge.  There's too many new faces, too much to do..."

"Which is why you are perfect for it, Jack," said Lady Jenna warmly, "You are more than capable and well... It will take some time before everyone can trust a Psyker."

Jack nodded.  The level of power that Jenna could normally manifest was hair-raising at best, but now with the new girl, it seemed like things were magnified even more.  He wasn't sure if he liked it. 

Looking down at Natalia, Jack frowned.  She looked so frail, yet she had undoubtedly held her own.  Maybe there was some hope for them after all...

A soft moan drew Jack's attention to the other side of the tent, and his hand went to his Laspistol when he saw the two Eldar females lying bandaged in the same tent.  A soft hand gripped his arm, and he looked down to see a smiling Lady Jenna.

"No need to fear Jack, they won't recover soon, but we do need answers.  Something is going on more than what the surface belies."

Jack shook his head.  "The Eldar are all lies and trickery.  Nothing good will come out of this."

"Perhaps not," said Lady Jenna, "But even still, we cannot let them die.  Tomorrow they might be our allies."

Or try and cut our throats, thought Jack.  The Captain was still in charge, but sometimes there were moments he wished she wasn't so altruistic.  After all, it was still the 41st millennium, and very little about it was safe.  Still, he thought, it couldn't hurt to try and make some friends.  As long as those new "friends" had plenty of lasguns around them for insurance.
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

BigToof

Oh, and as for BT points:

Cammerz goes to LEVEL 3.

Jayne goes to LEVEL 1.

and

Mabbz goes to LEVEL 1.

I'm considering perks at this point :)

Anyone have suggestions?

I can make extra bits of fluff for a character you like or some other benefit if you'd rather.

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

The Man They Call Jayne

My question, you have a Psyker who's last name is Maximov and her first name ISN'T Wanda? Are they sisters maybe? Will she get a special red paint job perhaps?
Jaynes Awesome Card Counter: +5

Secondspheres Crash Card Counter +4



Mabbz

Quote from: BigToof on April 27, 2014, 08:35:31 PM
As for the priestess... Wait...  Priests can be Attalian...  Priestess....

CLICK.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

You can take credit for the new girl, who will probably show up next episode :)
Yay! I'm helping!

Also, way to go Natalia. That is how a first outing should go.